Life and death: Eliciting cultural connotations from lexical collocations

As we said earlier, cultural connotations result from the interaction between linguistic meanings and other symbolic cultural

codes and form a common domain relevant for both verbal and non-verbal meanings. This point could be illustrated

through an analysis of such

basic cultural constructs as Life and Death, which, in terms of an anthropocentric approach, are assumed to lie at the very

centre of the linguistic and cultural world-picture.

Let us now consider some illustrations selected from a corpus of collocations containing the nouns smert', 'death', and

zhizn', 'life'. Conceptual parameters of life are represented through both temporal and spatial metaphors. Represented in

terms of space, for instance, are aspectual parameters marking the beginning or end of individual existence: vstupat' v zhizn', lit. 'to step into life', priyti v zhizn', lit. 'to come into life' (cf. Eng. to come to life/to one's senses), uyti iz zhizni, lit.

'to walk away from life'.

Also, the beginning of a new stage in one's life is often subject to metaphorical interpretation in terms of space. Consider:

vstupat' v trudovuyu zhizn', lit. 'to step into one's working life', stoyat' na poroge novoy zhizni, lit. 'to stand at the

threshold of a new life', perevalit″ za seredinu zhizni, lit. 'to pass over the middle of one's life' (as if it were a mountain

pass), pered (kem) raspakhnulis' beskraynie prostorui zhizni, lit. 'the boundless spaces of life opened wide before one',

(komu) otkruilis' novuie zhiznennuie gorizontui, lit. 'new horizons of life opened before one'.

Death, it would seem, is also seen as departure into a new space, the space of the Other. Consider: stoyat' na poroge/u

vrat smerti, lit. 'to stand at the threshold/the gate of death', uyti v mir inoy, lit. 'to leave for the other world', uyti/otpravit'

sya k praottsam, lit. 'to go to one's forefathers'.

Again, a descriptive-meaning parameter (here, periods of life) forms an association with a kernel metaphor of time as

space, while the selectivity of the cultural subconscious determines what kind of space will be activated in regularly

occurring linguistic metaphors. For instance, quite a number of collocations rely on the metaphor 'life as a road or path'.

These metaphors can also be found in archaic and present-day cultural practices. (Compare, for instance, the linguistic

metaphor 'life as a road' with the medieval religious practice of going on pilgrimage and today's tourism.)

Further expansion of the phraseological corpus would be governed by the logic of the archetypal concept underlying the

metaphor. For instance, the image of the road is associated with a trajectory, as in proyti dolgiy zhiznennuiy put', lit. 'to

have passed a long path of life', with the vector of movement understood as tsel' zhizni and smuisl zhizni, lit. 'the goal of

life' and 'the sense of life', respectively. Along the path of life (na zhiznennom puti), at the crossroads of everyday life (na

zhiteyskikh perekrestkakh), one is accompanied by good luck ((komu) soputstvuet udacha) or pursued by ill luck (

(kogo) presleduyut

neudachi). Death dogs one's footsteps (smert' gonitsya (za kem) po pyatam, lit. 'chases one on the heels') and

sometimes overtakes one (smert' nastigla (kogo)) or passes by (smert' proshla mimo). People meet and part on this road

-- consider: vstretit' svoyu sud'bu, lit. 'to meet one's fate', and ikh sud'bui/zhiznennuie puti perekrestilis'/pereseklis'/

soshlis'/ razoshlis', lit. 'their destinies/life ways crossed/converged/diverged'. In addition, the logic of the archetype

dictates an ethical norm encoded by means of the same linguistic metaphor, e.g.: zhizn' bez tseli, lit. 'life without a goal',

besputnaya zhizn', lit. 'wayless', 'directionless' (i.e. 'dissipated') life, rasputnaya zhizn', lit. 'wayward' (i.e. 'profligate') life,

ostupit'sya/poskol'znut'sya v zhizni, lit. 'to take a wrong step/to slip in life', otklonit'sya ot puti istinnogo, lit. 'to diverge or

stray from the path of righteousness'.

Besides describing life as a spatial-temporal form (here, a path), language also makes use of another spatial metaphor, the

kernel metaphor of 'life as a receptacle'. Fullness (vs. emptiness) is alluded to in describing a satisfying, harmonious life.

Nastoyashchaya zhizn', lit. 'a true life', is zhizn' vo vsey polnote ee proyavleniy, lit. 'life in all the fullness of its

manifestations'. To live a good life is zhit' polnov/napolnennoy zhizn'yu, lit. 'to live a full life'; pustaya zhizn', lit. 'an empty

life', is 'no life'. Consider also: zhizn', napolnennaya sobuitiyami, lit. 'a life full of events', soderzhatel'naya zhizn', lit. 'a life

with content', 'a complete life', zhizn', b'yushchaya/pleshchushchaya/bruizzhushchaya cherez kray, lit. 'a life that brims

over', zhizn' v ee polnokrovnom techenii, lit. 'the full flow of life', zhizn' -- polnaya chasha, lit. '(having) the full chalice of

life' (i.e. '(being) wealthy'). All these are kinds of life that give satisfaction, that make one duishat' polnoy grud'yu, lit. 'fill

one's lungs with air', and ispuituivat' vsyu polnotu zhizni, lit. 'feel the full completeness of life' (compare ispit' chashu

zhizni, lit. 'drink the chalice of life', zhazhda zhizni, lit. 'the thirst of life', upivat'sya zhizn'yu, lit. 'to drink in life').

To sum up, the evaluative parameter of the concept (roughly speaking, 'a happy life') alludes to the kernel metaphor 'life

as a receptacle', and the cultural factor contributes information on precisely what type of receptacle this is -- a chalice, an

archetypal symbol of sacrifice and communion with God.

An important parameter of life is, of course, death. The way death is linguistically conceptualized -- either as a result of

deliberate choice by the individual or as the result of an accident in which he is the victim of circumstances beyond his

control -- is transformed into meaning through different tropes: through the metaphor of economic exchange, on the one

hand, or through an allegorical personification, on the other. The 'time-is-money' kernel metaphor outlined by Lakoff

and Johnson (1980) is represented in our material with its more elaborate version 'life as an economic value, an object of

possession and exchange'. Hence we find: rasschitat'sya s zhizn'yu/svesti schetui s zhizn'yu, lit. 'to settle accounts with

life' (i.e. 'to (be ready to) commit suicide'), podarit' zhizn', darovat' zhizn' (komu), lit. 'to make a gift of life to someone',

lishit' zhizni (kogo), lit. 'to deprive someone of life' (i.e. 'to kill'), otnyat' zhizn', lit. 'to take life away from someone',

zaplatit' zhizn'yu (za chto), lit. 'to pay the price of one's life for something', otdat' zhizn' (za kogo/chto), lit. 'to give one's

life for someone/ something', pozhertvovat' zhizn'yu (radi chego/kogo), lit. 'to sacrifice one's life for someone/something',

prinesti svoyu zhizn' v zhertvu chemu/na altar' chego, lit. 'to lay one's life on the altar of something', rastratit' zhizn' (na

chto), lit. 'to waste one's life on something', ne shchadit' zhizni (radi chego), lit. 'not to spare one's life'. dorogo tsenit'

svoyu zhizn', lit. 'to give a high price for one's life', dorogo prodat', svoyu zhizn', lit. 'to sell one's life dear'. The 'political

economy' of life and death establishes a cultural norm according to which one's life is exchanged for something more

valuable, for instance, fame. Note, for example: otdat' zhizn' za blagoe delo, lit. 'to give one's life for a good deed',

umeret' dostoynoy (geroicheskoy, pochetnoy) smert'yu, lit. 'to die a worthy/heroic/honourable death'. In contrast, it

appears wretched to throw away one's life on trifles (rastrachivat' zhizn' na pustyaki) and to die a shameful death (umeret'

pozornoy smert'yu). Note especially: umeret' pod zaborom, lit. 'to die under a hedge', umeret' sobachey smert'yu, lit. 'to

die a dog's death', or umeret' glupoy/nelepoy/bessmuislennoy smert'yu, lit. 'to die a foolish/an absurd/a meaningless

death'. Though economic exchange cannot be classified as an archetype, it seems to be related, in an indirect way, to the

mysterious archaic practices of sacrifice -- as is money in general.

As for the second trope -- the allegorical personification of deathit can be shown to be activated in the conceptualization of

the parameter -- 'threat of death'. Here, death poses as an archetypal counteragent, a gargoyle: popast'sya smerti v zhizn', lit. 'to step into life', priyti v zhizn', lit. 'to come into life' (cf. Eng. to come to life/to one's senses), uyti iz zhizni, lit.

'to walk away from life'.

Also, the beginning of a new stage in one's life is often subject to metaphorical interpretation in terms of space. Consider:

vstupat' v trudovuyu zhizn', lit. 'to step into one's working life', stoyat' na poroge novoy zhizni, lit. 'to stand at the

threshold of a new life', perevalit″ za seredinu zhizni, lit. 'to pass over the middle of one's life' (as if it were a mountain

pass), pered (kem) raspakhnulis' beskraynie prostorui zhizni, lit. 'the boundless spaces of life opened wide before one',

(komu) otkruilis' novuie zhiznennuie gorizontui, lit. 'new horizons of life opened before one'.

Death, it would seem, is also seen as departure into a new space, the space of the Other. Consider: stoyat' na poroge/u

vrat smerti, lit. 'to stand at the threshold/the gate of death', uyti v mir inoy, lit. 'to leave for the other world', uyti/otpravit'

sya k praottsam, lit. 'to go to one's forefathers'.

Again, a descriptive-meaning parameter (here, periods of life) forms an association with a kernel metaphor of time as

space, while the selectivity of the cultural subconscious determines what kind of space will be activated in regularly

occurring linguistic metaphors. For instance, quite a number of collocations rely on the metaphor 'life as a road or path'.

These metaphors can also be found in archaic and present-day cultural practices. (Compare, for instance, the linguistic

metaphor 'life as a road' with the medieval religious practice of going on pilgrimage and today's tourism.)

Further expansion of the phraseological corpus would be governed by the logic of the archetypal concept underlying the

metaphor. For instance, the image of the road is associated with a trajectory, as in proyti dolgiy zhiznennuiy put', lit. 'to

have passed a long path of life', with the vector of movement understood as tsel' zhizni and smuisl zhizni, lit. 'the goal of

life' and 'the sense of life', respectively. Along the path of life (na zhiznennom puti), at the crossroads of everyday life (na

zhiteyskikh perekrestkakh), one is accompanied by good luck ((komu) soputstvuet udacha) or pursued by ill luck (kogo) presleduyutneudachi). Death dogs one's footsteps (smert' gonitsya (za kem) po pyatam, lit. 'chases one on the heels') and

sometimes overtakes one (smert' nastigla (kogo) or passes by (smert' proshla mimo). People meet and part on this road

-- consider: vstretit' svoyu sud'bu, lit. 'to meet one's fate', and ikh sud'bui/zhiznennuie puti perekrestilis'/pereseklis'/

soshlis'/ razoshlis', lit. 'their destinies/life ways crossed/converged/diverged'. In addition, the logic of the archetype

dictates an ethical norm encoded by means of the same linguistic metaphor, e.g.: zhizn' bez tseli, lit. 'life without a goal',

besputnaya zhizn', lit. 'wayless', 'directionless' (i.e. 'dissipated') life, rasputnaya zhizn', lit. 'wayward' (i.e. 'profligate') life,

ostupit'sya/poskol'znut'sya v zhizni, lit. 'to take a wrong step/to slip in life', otklonit'sya ot puti istinnogo, lit. 'to diverge or

stray from the path of righteousness'.

Besides describing life as a spatial-temporal form (here, a path), language also makes use of another spatial metaphor, the

kernel metaphor of 'life as a receptacle'. Fullness (vs. emptiness) is alluded to in describing a satisfying, harmonious life.

Nastoyashchaya zhizn', lit. 'a true life', is zhizn' vo vsey polnote ee proyavleniy, lit. 'life in all the fullness of its

manifestations'. To live a good life is zhit' polnov/napolnennoy zhizn'yu, lit. 'to live a full life'; pustaya zhizn', lit. 'an empty

life', is 'no life'. Consider also: zhizn', napolnennaya sobuitiyami, lit. 'a life full of events', soderzhatel'naya zhizn', lit. 'a life

with content', 'a complete life', zhizn', b'yushchaya/pleshchushchaya/bruizzhushchaya cherez kray, lit. 'a life that brims

over', zhizn' v ee polnokrovnom techenii, lit. 'the full flow of life', zhizn' -- polnaya chasha, lit. '(having) the full chalice of

life' (i.e. '(being) wealthy'). All these are kinds of life that give satisfaction, that make one duishat' polnoy grud'yu, lit. 'fill

one's lungs with air', and ispuituivat' vsyu polnotu zhizni, lit. 'feel the full completeness of life' (compare ispit' chashu

zhizni, lit. 'drink the chalice of life', zhazhda zhizni, lit. 'the thirst of life', upivat'sya zhizn'yu, lit. 'to drink in life').

To sum up, the evaluative parameter of the concept (roughly speaking, 'a happy life') alludes to the kernel metaphor 'life

as a receptacle', and the cultural factor contributes information on precisely what type of receptacle this is -- a chalice, an

archetypal symbol of sacrifice and communion with God.

An important parameter of life is, of course, death. The way death is linguistically conceptualized -- either as a result of

deliberate choice by the individual or as the result of an accident in which he is the victim of circumstances beyond his

control -- is transformed into meaning through different tropes: through the metaphor of economic exchange, on the one

hand, or through an allegorical personification, on the other. The 'time-is-money' kernel metaphor outlined by Lakoff

and Johnson (1980) is represented in our material with its more elaborate version 'life as an economic value, an object of

possession and exchange'. Hence we find: rasschitat'sya s zhizn'yu/svesti schetui s zhizn'yu, lit. 'to settle accounts with

life' (i.e. 'to (be ready to) commit suicide'), podarit' zhizn', darovat' zhizn' (komu), lit. 'to make a gift of life to someone',

lishit' zhizni (kogo), lit. 'to deprive someone of life' (i.e. 'to kill'), otnyat' zhizn', lit. 'to take life away from someone',

zaplatit' zhizn'yu (za chto), lit. 'to pay the price of one's life for something', otdat' zhizn' (za kogo/chto), lit. 'to give one's

life for someone/ something', pozhertvovat' zhizn'yu (radi chego/kogo), lit. 'to sacrifice one's life for someone/something',

prinesti svoyu zhizn' v zhertvu chemu/na altar' chego, lit. 'to lay one's life on the altar of something', rastratit' zhizn' (na

chto), lit. 'to waste one's life on something', ne shchadit' zhizni (radi chego), lit. 'not to spare one's life'. dorogo tsenit'

svoyu zhizn', lit. 'to give a high price for one's life', dorogo prodat', svoyu zhizn', lit. 'to sell one's life dear'. The 'political

economy' of life and death establishes a cultural norm according to which one's life is exchanged for something more

valuable, for instance, fame. Note, for example: otdat' zhizn' za blagoe delo, lit. 'to give one's life for a good deed',

umeret' dostoynoy (geroicheskoy, pochetnoy) smert'yu, lit. 'to die a worthy/heroic/honourable death'. In contrast, it

appears wretched to throw away one's life on trifles (rastrachivat' zhizn' na pustyaki) and to die a shameful death (umeret'

pozornoy smert'yu). Note especially: umeret' pod zaborom, lit. 'to die under a hedge', umeret' sobachey smert'yu, lit. 'to

die a dog's death', or umeret' glupoy/nelepoy/bessmuislennoy smert'yu, lit. 'to die a foolish/an absurd/a meaningless

death'. Though economic exchange cannot be classified as an archetype, it seems to be related, in an indirect way, to the

mysterious archaic practices of sacrifice -- as is money in general.

As for the second trope -- the allegorical personification of deathit can be shown to be activated in the conceptualization of

the parameter -- 'threat of death'. Here, death poses as an archetypal counteragent, a gargoyle: popast'sya smerti v lapui/zubui/kogti, lit. 'to be caught in death's paws/teeth/nails', smotret' smerti v glaza/v litso, lit. 'to look death in the

eye/face', smert' glyadit pustuimi glaznitsami, lit.'death stares from empty eye sockets', lik smerti, lit. 'the visage of

death', smert' osenila kruilami (kogo), lit. 'death spread its wings over someone'. The subject is conceptualized as waging

a mysterious fight with death, as in obmanut'/perekhitrit' smert', lit. 'to cheat/outwit death', brosit' vuizov smerti, lit. 'to

challenge death', borot'sya so smert'yu, lit. 'to fight death', shutit″/igrat″ so smert″yu, lit. 'to joke/to play with death',

smert' medlit, lit. 'death is lingering', smert' stuchitsya u vorot, lit. 'death is knocking at the gate', smert' podzhidaet

(kogo), lit. 'death is waiting

for someone', smert' podkaraulila, podsteregla, lit. 'death is waiting in ambush', smert' otstypila (ot kogo), lit. 'death has

retreated from one', smert' poshchadila (kogo), lit. 'death had mercy on someone', etc.It can easily be seen from these

illustrations that the metaphorical conceptualization of life and death in Russian phraseology is heavily loaded with cultural

connotations but hardly shows any signs of ethno-cultural -- i.e. purely Russian -- colouring. Rather, the images and

symbols of death could be attributed to European culture in general. Whether this is the result of cultural and linguistic

borrowing or a proof that Russian and other European cultures have much in common remains a matter of debate and is

outside the scope of the present study. Of much greater importance is the conclusion that cultural connotations give us a

better opportunity of finding systematic correlations between everyday language and other -- non-verbalcultural

discourses. The cultural analysis of lexical collocations makes clear that information about specific archetypes and other

patterns would be of value in a phraseological dictionary, as they are responsible for the conceptualization, in terms of

metaphors, of vast and important ideographic areas.